Yashomati Thakur is an Indian advocate-turned-politician and member of the Indian National Congress (INC).
Wiki/Biography
Yashomati Chandrakant Thakur was born on 17 May 1974 (age 48 years; as of 2022) in Mojari, Amravati district of Maharashtra. She pursued LLB from Dr Panjabrao Deshmukh Law College, Amravati University (2002). Yashomati ventured into politics after the death of her husband.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 4″
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Family
Parents & Siblings
Her father, Chandrakant Thakur (fondly referred to as Bhayyasaheb Thakur), was a politician who represented the Teosa Assembly constituency as an independent candidate in 1978 and as a member of INC in 1980. He passed away in 2018 due to a kidney ailment. Her mother’s name is Pushpamala Thakur.
Yashomati Thakur with her parents
She has a younger sister, Sanyogita Naik Nimbalkar, who is also a politician.
Sanyogita Nimbalkar with her husband, Satyajeet Nimbalkar
Husband & Children
Her husband is deceased. Her daughter’s name is Akanksha Tai, and her son’s name is Yashwardhan Tai.
A picture of Yashomati Thakur with her son and daughter
Career
Yashomati Thakur ventured into politics as a member of the Indian National Congress (INC). In 2004, she contested the Maharashtra Assembly Elections for the first time from Teosa (also known as Tivsa) constituency in the Amravati district, but she lost the elections; BJP candidate Sahebrao Thatte won the seat. She held the position of General Secretary of Maharashtra Pradesh Youth Congress from 2004 to 2009. Simultaneously, she worked as a member of the state women’s commission. After that, she joined Rahul Gandhi’s youth brigade, where she was given the charge of Gujarat, Daman and Diu, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh. Yashomati Thakur with Rahul Gandhi. She has served as the Secretary of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee, Secretary of the All India Congress Committee, and the President of the Maharashtra State Congress. She contested and won the Teosa Assembly seat in the 2009 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Elections, defeating the Shiv Sena candidate Sanjay Band by 26,130 votes. She was re-elected as an MLA from Teosa in 2014 and 2019. On 30 December 2019, she was sworn in as Cabinet Minister of Ministry of Woman and Child Development in Uddhav Thackeray-led Mahavikas Aghadi Government; she served in this capacity till 29 June 2022. In 2018, Congress appointed Yashomati as party secretary for Karnataka. On 16 December 2019, she was appointed Vidhansabha Talika President by Nana Patole for the winter session of the Maharashtra Assembly held in Nagpur Vidarbha. As an MLA in the Government of Maharashtra, she was the Guardian minister of Amravati District (2020-2022).
Controversies
2012 Cop Assault Case
Yashomati Thakur and three others, including her driver, were given a three-month sentence by a sessions court in Amravati for allegedly assaulting a policeman in the Amravati district in 2012. After that, she filed an appeal in the high court against the conviction and sought suspension of the sentence by way of interim relief. The incident occurred on 24 March 2012, in the Chunabhatti area, which comes under Rajapeth police station limits in Amravati. Allegedly, Yashomati Thakur, her driver Sagar Suresh Khandekar, and party workers Sharad Kashirav Jawanjal and Raju Kisan Ingle, beat up traffic policeman Ulhas Raurale when he stopped her vehicle from entering a one-way lane. In 2020, the court sentenced Thakur to three months of rigorous imprisonment in the eight-year-old case and also imposed a fine of Rs. 15,500. She was fined the same amount by the court of district and sessions.
Others
Other charges levelled against her include charges relating to voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons, punishment for criminal intimidation, being a member of an unlawful assembly, rioting, etc.
Assets/Properties
Movable Assets
- Deposits in Banks, Financial Institutions and Non-Banking Financial Companies: Rs. 4,40,995
- NSS, Postal Savings etc: Rs. 21,671
- Motor Vehicles: Rs 13,50,000
Immovable Assets
- Agricultural Land: Rs. 1,42,85,332
- Non-Agricultural Land: Rs. 15,10,000
- Commercial Buildings: Rs. 5,95,00,000
- Residential Buildings: Rs. 93,33,333
Note: The given estimates of moveable and immovable assets are as of 2019. The moveable assets exclude the assets owned by her husband and dependents. Immovable Assets states the assets owned by her Hindu Undivided Family.
Net Worth
As of 2019, her net worth is Rs. 11,56,10,771.
Note: It excludes the net worth of her husband and dependents but includes the assets owned by her Hindu Undivided Family.
Facts/Trivia
- In the 2014 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Elections, Yashomati Thakur competed against her younger sister Sanyogita Naik Nimbalkar, who was contesting the elections as an independent candidate with the support of a local organization Prahar. During the 2009 assembly elections, Nimbalkar headed Thakur’s campaign and contributed to her win. While addressing the media, Nimbalkar, while expressing her disappointment with Thakur, said,
I campaigned for my sister during 2009 elections and thought she would bring development. But she did nothing, so I decided to contest against her.” - Her other names include Yashomati Bhayyasaheb Thakur and Yashomati Tai Thakur .
- Like many Congress members, Yashomati is also an adherent follower of Saint Tukdoji Maharaj. Her father, Bhayyasaheb Thakur, was also influenced by Tukdoji Maharaj.